Foxy: Theater Adds Depth to Its Stage Direction

Foxy: Theater Adds Depth to Its Stage Direction

Article excerpt

If you've always wanted to be on stage at the Fox Theatre,
now's your chance.

Don't bother practicing the scales or the time step - the
occasion is not an audition, but the official unveiling of the
theater's $2 million addition. The public is invited to a party at
10 a.m. Wednesday at the Fox, 527 North Grand Boulevard. The first
500 guests will receive a brick from the old back wall.

David Fay, executive director at the Fox, said: "We'll talk
about the work we've had done, and we'll have a look at what it was
like to load in shows before and after the expansion. There will be
a few surprises, too." The expansion added an additional 20 feet to
the depth of the stage, increasing it to 50 feet. The nine-story
building has no inner supports, and the 140-foot-wide back wall
supported the roof and the suspended ceiling in the theater. A new
250-ton steel structure was built to support the ceiling and roof
before the back wall was removed.

To those "unofficial construction supervisors" who have watched
the work in progress since last fall, the view from outside may not
look like much. Actually, Fay said, theatergoers may not notice a
big difference, either.

"People in the audience tend to get caught up in the magic, the
illusion of theater; and then there is no back wall, as you imagine
that the set goes on beyond what you see," he said. …